Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock: PDU Success Stories

Low Livestock production and productivity is partly contributed by animal diseases. To this end, the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (MFL), has continued to focus on the promotion of animal health through disease control, awareness and extension, vaccination and treatment of animals. The Ministry has intensified surveillance activities in high-risk areas for early detection and response. The Ministry has also continued to collaborate with various Cooperating partners and Developing Partners in the country in a bid to prevent and control animal diseases. 

The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock is implementing various activities that support the actualization of Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU) priorities. A number priorities are being implemented in 2024 as they have been provisioned for in the 2024 budget. Nonetheless, since the inception of implementing the PDU Priorities, the Ministry has made some strides in towards attaining the PDU priorities. This report contains two success stories on the implementation of PDU priorities.

Digitalization of surveillance & reporting systems on (District Animal Health Information System 2 

The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (MFL) has partnered with the Centre for Infectious Disease and Research (CIDRZ) in Zambia to improve real-time animal health data capturing using a District Health Information System tool (DHIS2). This system has been piloted and implemented by the Ministry through the National Livestock Epidemiology and Information Centre (NALEIC) in three provinces namely Northern, Central and Western. Each province has three districts and five veterinary camps which have been selected for the pilot. In total, the project is being implemented in 45 veterinary camps where the Veterinary Assistants (VAs) have been equipped with tablets as a means to capture and synchronize data to the national server.

The Ministry has been capturing and reporting data from veterinary camps and submitting to the national (NALEIC) level through the districts and provinces. The paper-based monthly reporting system faces a lot of teething challenges and these being:  late reporting, low reporting rates from provinces, storage, late decision-making due to delayed reporting/ submission of data. Furthermore, previously the provincial office was required to enter data from the district into EpiData software, which would send the data to NALEIC. This process overwhelmed the provinces as the would compile all the data from the reporting districts for entry into the EpiData Software prior to submission to NALEIC. This did not only create a time lag in reporting but also resulted in underreporting from the provinces. It suffices to mention that since the DHIS2 is still under pilot, the two systems are running in parallel with the already existing paper-based collection of data.

As part of introducing the DHIS2, NALEIC and CIDRZ have conducted trainings in Northern, Central and Western provinces..  The team managed to train 42 and 6 Tsetse Control Assistant / Livestock Assistant (TC/LA) and Veterinary Assistant (VAs) respectively and delivered 45 tablets and MiFi’s to VAs in Shangombo, Kalabo, Mongu, Mumbwa, Chisamba, Kapiri Mposhi, Kasama, Nsama, Kaputa and Mbala Districts.

Further, a total of 13 desktops computers have been distributed in all pilot areas. All supervisors were trained in data extraction, data analysis while VA Officers were trained in data entry. Support was also provided to the Provincial Veterinary Officers (PVOs) and District Veterinary Officers (DVOs) on how to monitor the data collection processEvery month, CIDRZ provides internet (data bundles) connectivity on the tablets.

Reports in DHIS2 Pilot Areas

The reporting levels in the system has improved from inception as shown in the figure below. These reports represent daily events aggregated by monthly. Each officer was expected to produce at least 20 event reports per month. Kasama and Mumbwa District were observed to be performing very well in data reporting.

Figure 1: Event reports per month across DHIS2 Pilot district

The DHIS2 system has improved the capturing of animal health events in that officers do not have to wait to report on a lot of information at once in the paper-based reporting tool as compared to the DHIS2 system where they can report different events in a timely manner. The tool has encouraged more event reporting as compared to the paper based monthly reporting. Another success is that the DVOs can monitor the camps that are under performing and are able to do follow ups on respective officers. The validations on the form has helped improve data quality in terms of completeness and timely submission of reports. The information on disease trends is used by supervisors to make informed decisions on the type of extension support services to be provided in the various veterinary camp.

Animal Disease Control (vaccinations of Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia and Foot and Mouth Disease)

During the period June, 2023, the country experienced a number of disease outbreaks across the country. Of particular note, the Foot and Mouth (FMD) which was reported in Western and Eastern Provinces. In response to this, a number of interventions and disease control measures were instituted. These included vaccinations, sensitizations and movement controls.

A total of 500,050 doses of FMD vaccine were distributed to Eastern province in order to reduce FMD between July and August, 2023. The distribution enabled 80 % coverage of the animals in the province as shown in the table below.

Table 1: Distribution of FMD Vaccines and Achievements in Eastern Province

During the same period, the Ministry carried out vaccinations against FMD in Kaoma District of Western Province. The Ministry targeted to vaccinate Thirteen Thousand Five Hundred (13,500) cattle against FMD and achieved Twelve Thousand Seven hundred and Forty-Nine animals (12,749) animals vaccinated.

In an effort, to eradicate East Coast Fever (ECF), a total of 56,016 calves were vaccinated against the target of 100,000 in Southern, Eastern, Central, Lusaka and Copperbelt Provinces. With regards to Contagious Bovine Pleuro Pnemonia (CBPP), at total of 198,214 cattle were vaccinated against CBPP in Western Province.

The Ministry will continue to prioritise animal disease control